


What I Can Share With You

by Princex_N



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Anxiety, Autistic Angus, Cooking, Cooking Lessons, Crafts, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Knitting, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Sharing, Stimming, Teaching, Team as Family, Wood-Carving, carpentry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-09 16:54:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8900314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princex_N/pseuds/Princex_N
Summary: Sometimes stress can be a lot to handle, and learning new ways to keep your hands busy never hurts! Here's a fic about the trades the boys decide to pass down to Angus. Magnus ruminates on renewed possibilities. Merle is reluctant. Taako is getting better.





	1. Magnus

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a Bit of a bounce off of my fic ["What I Can Give To You"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8422618); you don't have to read that to read this. They're not quite related, even though they kind of are, in the Vaguest way.

Magnus doesn't actually plan on it; it just sort of happens. 

All he's doing is lounging around one of the common areas of the moon base and carving a little wooden totem, when Angus walks in. 

And Angus is a pretty easy kid to read, despite the fact that he tries hard not to be. Magnus doesn't have to look too hard to see that something is obviously wrong. Angus is pacing through the chairs, eyes wide and straining with his hands fluttering in agitation at his sides. Something's up, and Magnus doesn't have to be a detective to notice that. 

Magnus would usually be comfortable leaving the kid to sort it out on his own, because there are times when rushing in to help has the opposite effect. But right now, Angus walks straight into a couch and his hands are starting to tug angrily at his hair, and Magnus decides that right now probably isn't one of those times. 

"Hey Ango, come here." Angus goes rigid when Magnus calls out, but when his gaze finally finds the man, he hurries over. 

"Ye-ess, sir?" Angus rasps, then clears his throat. His feet shuffle uncertainly where he stands. 

Magnus pretends not to notice the difficulty speaking. "I've been wondering," he says instead, "would you want me to teach you wood-carving?" Magnus holds up the small wooden statue that he'd been working on, to let Angus get a better idea of what he's talking about. 

The boy's eyes go wide, "R-really?" he stammers incredulously, fingers tapping together excitedly. 

"Yeah sure, have a seat; I'll show you the ropes." 

Angus sits and Magnus passes along a small knife and scrap block of wood, and sets to work explaining. 

It's pretty slow going, and the kid nicks himself more times than Magnus can count -he probably should have thought twice before handing an agitated kid a blade- but when they get through the hard part and the sandpaper comes out, Angus does a lot better. 

It takes a little more than a couple of hours for Angus to complete a kind of pathetic looking animal carving (Magnus thinks it was supposed to be a cat? But looking at it now, he can't rule out some kind of bird). Angus is a lot calmer by the end, but Magnus is expecting him to be disappointed since the kid is a massive perfectionist. But, when he watches the way the boy runs his fingers over the rounded edges of the wood as he sways serenely in his chair, he thinks that Angus is probably even happier with the little creation than he's letting on. 

"If you want another lesson, just drop on by." Magnus tells him, ruffling his hair a little when the detective finally excuses himself. 

Angus beams at him enthusiastically, and Magnus watches him leave. He thinks vaguely about how he'd used to want to pass the trade down, before everything that had happened. He'd never gotten the chance to properly contemplate the possibility, before it was too late. 

He shakes himself out of the thoughts before he can make himself too sad, and goes back to rounding out the rough edges of the carving of a woman that he's been making all morning. 

He thinks that Julia would have approved of a protege like Angus, if she were still here. 

The two of them would have gotten along perfectly. 


	2. Merle

Merle wants nothing to do with it. 

The fact of the matter is that he's just not good with kids, and they're better off steering clear of him. 

Angus apparently hasn't gotten that message. 

(It's not that big of a surprise; the kid's a genius but he can be as dense as Taako sometimes) 

"Sir, I was hoping that you could help me?" 

Merle tries to keep the irritation off of his face; sometimes he'll keep up the illusion of being nice in order to keep Magnus and the Director off his fucking case. 

"What do you need?" 

Angus shuffles nervously. He points at the knitting project in Merle's hands (a sweater for Taako), and Merle waits for the boy to organize his words, since even he's not that much of an asshole. 

"Could you teach me? If you're not busy?"

Angus is clearly already bracing himself for rejection, which is good because Merle answers with a succinct, "No," and picks up his belongings to go work somewhere else. 

(He'd be a garbage teacher, and like he said, kids are better off staying away from him) 

Angus, to his credit, doesn't ask again. So of course it's Merle, watching the boy shred the hell out of his hands a few days later, that gives in. 

"Hey," he calls, and Angus freezes, pulling his hands behind his back guiltily. "Get over here." 

Angus shuffles over and Merle pulls out a spare set of needles from his bag, holds them out expectantly. When Angus doesn't move, Merle rolls his eyes, "Do you want to learn or not?" 

Angus' eyes go wide in surprise, but he takes the proffered needles and sits down next to Merle eagerly. 

 _This_ , Merle thinks, _is bullshit_. 

But Bullshit or not, Angus takes to the craft like a fish to fucking water, which figures. They stick to a scarf, something easy and repetitive so that Angus can learn some different stitches; it's pretty simple, but still. 

Merle expects himself to be annoyed. Angus somehow manages to find a seat next to him whenever he's working, and Angus is anything but a quiet knitting companion. 

But watching the kid burn through stitches no problem as he rocks steadily and hums long tuneless notes to himself, Merle finds that it's not all that bad. 

Pan forbid, he finds himself actually enjoying the company. 

(Fuck is he getting  _soft_ in his old age)


	3. Taako

"Sir, I was wondering, could you teach me, cooking. If you're not busy?" 

Taako's breath catches as he looks up from the TV to stare at a very anxious looking boy detective. 

"What? The magic's not enough?" He tries to hide the fact that he's having to steady his breathing a bit. 

Angus' eyes widen, "No!" He rushes to assure, "I mean, yes? I mean, I was just wondering." 

And  _fuck_ , Taako kind of wants to. 

He shouldn't. He definitely shouldn't. But, as much as he enjoys magic; cooking is something special, always has been. 

It's been a while since he's cooked with someone else. 

It's been a while since he's cooked. 

 _'It wasn't your fault,'_ he reminds himself, looking over Angus with exaggerated scrutiny to waste time as the boy rocks on his heels and waits for an answer. 

"Sure, why not?" This is a bad decision; Taako can think of  _many_ reasons why not. He pulls on an earlobe to try and distract from the way his ears are pressed back against his skull. "But don't be disappointed if you can't keep up; I'm the best after all." 

Angus responds with unbridled enthusiasm, as he usually does, and says that it will be no issue. And in the end, he's right. Angus is doing more or less okay; Taako is the one struggling to keep up. 

"Let's stop here, baby," Taako blurts out. His hands are shaking. They're only halfway through the dish, but he can't do this anymore. 

Angus seems a little agitated too. Taako can't remember what they'd started out making, but it was probably too difficult for a kid beginner. 

(That's Taako alright, can't do a  _damn_ thing right anymore.)

"Can I come back to try tomorrow?" Angus asks, ever persistent, despite the fact that he's tugging on a strand of his afro unhappily. 

"As long as nothing comes up." 

Taako wants nothing but to put it behind him, but he can't stop thinking about it. He winds up scouring his memory for the simplest fucking thing he can imagine making, and carefully prints out the instructions on a loose scrap of paper. 

When Angus comes back the next day, Taako walks him through the steps alongside the notes, double-triple-quadruple checking everything they do. 

It's slow as fuck, but Angus seems to appreciate it, so neither of them are complaining. 

They manage to finish making the dish. Taako checks the pasta with the poison detecting salt, and eats it first. He makes Angus wait a full 24 hours before he gets a bite. 

Taako almost has a panic attack, but it's fine, he's fine, it's all okay. 

They make the exact same dish the next few times they do these little lessons. Angus doesn't get bored of things apparently; Taako's too busy panicking to get bored. 

But one day, he's halfway through a plate that he'd split with Angus when he realizes that they hadn't checked with the salt, or even waited before eating it. 

He wonders if maybe teaching the kid wasn't such a bad idea after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I have more fics coming but I've been like, actually busy lately, which is bizarre. Please be patient with me! They're on their way!   
> [my tumblr](http://www.princex-n.tumblr.com)  
> I'm also on [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/princex_n)


End file.
